Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Thanks to Skuter, ChewyLewy, and scribe594 for sharing this one at Skuter's tasting.

Best by 12/30/13.

Pours a murky honey yellow with a foamy off-white head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Small chunks of sediment are seen floating around in the beer after the pour. Smell is of malt, honey, brown sugar, and citrus zest aromas. Taste is much the same with malt, citrus zest, and slight cardboard flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is an above average beer that is drinkable but a bit old tasting at this point. (740 characters)

The appearance of this is very distinctive. It's a very bright yellow like a bell pepper, but with just a bit of orange colour to it. It retains a small head. The smell is very malty and sweet. The taste has an excellent malty essence to it with a bright hop character that really compliments it. It gives it a bit of a resinous mouthfeel that I don't generally like, but I was expecting hop notes in this and will not hold that against this beer. I think that for someone who wants some hop character added, to the sweet, maltiness of an English barleywine, this really comes through. It pairs them quite nicely. There's no tinge of skunky flavour at the back that's hard to get rid of in a lot of high-alcohol, sweet, malty beers. I'm not sure how they got this so bright a colour. It has some really nice flavour notes of a darker, English barleywine. This beer does an excellent job of using hops. It adds to the character of the beer without detracting anything by covering up flavours I was looking forward to.One thing you have to be prepared for is that this is DRY DRY DRY. If you're not in the mood for dry, don't drink it. It is resinous with biscuity malts. And high alcohol and high carbonation on top of that. So dry! Be ready. (1,242 characters)

This barleywine pours from the bottle to an orange color and a sweet, sharp nose that lumps together scents of fruit, caramel, and honey. The foam isn’t very thick, but it does leave a nice amount of lace on the glass as you consume.

With the taste, this beer offers up some flavors of citrus, honey, biscuits, and a dash of pine. I can detect some vanilla in there as well, plus some grassiness, underlying dark fruit, and alcohol.

This is an interesting, medium- bodied barleywine with a combination of different flavors not experienced in every example of the style. The fruitiness is most dominant, but I like that the beer attempts to balance its flavor with other taste sensations, including significant taste contributions from the malt.

Another interesting beer from Real Ale, this barleywine may not be my favorite from this Texas brewer, but I do like what I taste here and will try it again if I get the chance. (928 characters)

S – A sweet, resiny smell, backed up by some spice. Sort of like a sweet melon with some grass and citrus zest. There’s also some breadiness, as I am reminded of the Duvel Tripel hop I had last week. Don’t shoot me, but I am slightly reminded of a saison.

T – I’m really getting a hybrid of styles here. I’d describe it as a sweeter, slightly thicker IPA. Hops impart flavors of grass and citrus, all while being wrapped up in a slightly sweet, boozy blanket that unfurls after the swallow.

M – Medium bodied, slightly sticky. Soft and slick though, and stays close to the tongue. A pretty wet finish. I like it, and I think on hotter days when a dry finish might be wanted, the flavor will make up for the wet finish.

D – I’m torn between openly liking it and being left wanting more to better decide. I suppose being left wanting more is a good thing! I do like that there’s some sweetness and good medium body, yet also some oomph from the hop flavors. I think it’s a little rough around the edges, as the smells and flavors can be picked out but they don’t meld seamlessly (like a well-made Belgian ale) or support each other while being distinct and giving the beer what I call ‘flavor clarity’ (like Enjoy By 07.04.13). I think I’m going to buy some more so I can re-review, and cellar a couple bottles. That’s a good sign.4.25, 4, 4, 4, 4; 4.01 (1,583 characters)

appearance: two finger off-white head. hazy topaz hue. medium carbonation from what it looks like. head fades sllowly to a one finger and then to a cap while drinking. lace sticks quite nicely to the glass.

nose: bready with some honey, toffee, and malt. some citrus in there. maybe a little apple. slight grapefruit. muted grassiness.

taste: buttery with some similar notes as the nose. honey wheat bread with a citrus and dry bitter finish. definitely some toffee and a hint of dark fruit. this is not as heavy on the sweetness as a full out barleywine, but it has the flavor profile of one while being somewhat muted, though not in a bad way. This is definitely a more refreshing version that was not meant to be as big as it can be. it definitely has that brown sugar thing going on. pretty well balanced between sweet and bitter.

mouthfeel: nice and chewy with moderate carbonation. pretty damn perfect for this beer. i wouldn't change anything about the mouthfeel.

overall: As barleywines are my favorite style, I've had plenty of experiences where one barleywine is enough. They are incredibly flavorful, but also very heavy, rich, and strong so typically the ones i find in bombers are definitely enough. this is the first blonde barleywine i've ever had and i dare say that the brewers are genius to produce this beer. it definitely mixes the classic barelywine flavor with the drinkability of a summer beer so that i can actually enjoy barelywines in the summer without having to blast my AC to simulate the winter climate. the only caveat with this beer is that it should not be allowed to get as warm as a typical barleywine. if you follow the serving temperature of a pale ale, this is smooth, flavorful, and just awesome all the way through. (1,760 characters)

Kind of a yellow-tan and somewhat hazy, not much head or lacing, despite a pretty rough pour over two bottles of sampling this beer.

Aroma is plenty of malts, tons of citrus, a little fruitiness.

Flavor has some true barleywine type aspects, fruitiness, maltiness, but is heavier on citrus flavors, and has a moderate hop flavor.

Body wise it's fairly b arleywine-like, but lighter to some extent. Carbonation is pretty light. Drinkability is pretty good, I could possibly have two of these in a session, where most barleywines would be only one.

It's an interesting take on barleywine. I commend RABC for trying different things. I look forward to their next beer that shows up on my local shelf. Because Blanco isn't far from here, we're getting some fresh stuff. Value-wise I'm always happy with RABC and have never complained about the quality to price ratio. (869 characters)

Grassy, slightly citric hops are offset by a honeyed biscuit maltiness. Smells good, plenty of both hops and malt, alcohol is kept in check nicely.

Has an earthy malt that is unexpected, but the juicy hops pull it through back to the bright side. Plenty of bitterness and the alcohol shows some strength in the flavor...Im guessing at least 10.5% or so. Drinks pretty smooth, though I can probably count the number of blonde barleywines I have had on one hand - with FFF Behemoth and Avery's Hog Heaven being both similar in profile. This one seems more integrated and profiles the malt a little better. It's really good, a nice departure from the caramely sweet/cloying barleywines that seem so prevalent on the market. I bought this 4-pack up in the Dallas area a few weeks ago and have been looking for it to arrive in Houston for a couple weeks now. I dont really think it will age all that well, but I am happy to put down at least 2 or 3 more of these 4-packs before the next round of Brewers' cut arrives. (1,150 characters)

(A)- Pours a clear golden yellow color. Some really good white froth that stuck around for awhile before dissipating. Lots of lacing left behind in the process. Definitely a very light color for the style, but I guess that is what makes it a blonde barleywine!

(S)- Quite sweet on the nose with honey and a crisp but subtle wheat-like citrus.

(T)- Quite a crisp body overall with light bits of wheat and biscuit. Honey-like sweetness with a crisp finish of lemon and grapefuit citrus. Very subtle pine.

(M)- A crisp carbonation level. A really surprising but welcoming lighter body to this while still maintaining a strong sweet malty taste with a nice finishing of hops to add dimension and complexity.

(O)- A unique but incredibly successful take on the style. This would be absolutely amazing barrel aged. Easily my favorite of the flight! (909 characters)